Mauk and Me
by Sofia Remus
Summary: Humans who do not receive a name within 168 hours of birth are not recognized as having a name. Therefore they can not be killed by a death note.
1. 168 Hours

_**Humans who do not receive a name within 168 hours of birth are not recognized as having a name. Therefore they can not be killed by a death note**__._

**Chapter 1: 168 hours**

I was 604,680 seconds old when it happened. 10,078 minutes; 167.96 hours.

At least that is what Mauk has told me.

My parents still had not decided on a name for me. They thought that they should get to know my personality, a baby's personality, before they gave me a name. They never got that chance.

It was October 25, 1987. I was 604,000 seconds old. 10,066.66 minutes, 167.77 hours.

My parents decided to go to the grocery store. Instead of one of them going while the other would stay home with me they decided that they would both go and use this as an excuse to show off their brand new nameless baby. To see if a child whose heart had stopped beating when exposed to breast milk would be fine out in the chilly October air.

O what fools these mortals be.

They choose to take a baby out that had already been clinically dead once. A baby who no longer has their numbers floating above them as Mauk would say. I already wasn't supposed to be alive, yet they decided to tempt fate.

We arrived at the grocery store when I was 604, 560 seconds old. 10,076 minutes, 167.93 hours.

We entered the store and my father grabbed a shopping basket. They headed down a canned vegetable aisle while pushing me in my stroller. I do not remember any of it but Mauk says I just laid there and stared at a plush horse that hung from the stroller. They stood there and debated what type of canned vegetables they should buy.

Then a loud pop and screams were heard. The store was being robbed.

My parents were not some of the smartest people in the world. Both had only just graduated from high school and neither planned nor wanted to continue their education. Unlike others they didn't have any 'street smarts' either. So it should also come to no surprise that neither had any common sense.

Instead of getting down on the floor like the others inside the store, my father decided to act like a hero. He ran straight at the robber and lifted his arm as if he were to punch them. The thief turned around and shot him in the head. My father was dead before he even hit the ground. I was 604,680 seconds when he was shot. 10,078 minutes; 167.96 hours.

My mother didn't learn anything from my father's death. She ran from the canned vegetable aisle towards the door. Not even bothering to grab my stroller. The robber saw her trying to escape, so he shot her in the heart. I was 604,740 seconds old. 10,079 minutes, 167.98 hours.

Mauk says that at the moment my mother was shot I began to cry, as if I knew the last link I had to the world had been killed. He says that the robber turned at the sound of the cry and stalked over to the stroller. That the robber held a gun to my head and told everyone in the store that this was an example of what would happen to anyone who tried to escape and anyone who was with them.

The robber then caulked the trigger, gave a smirk, and grabbed his chest. The gun dropped out of his hand and he hit the floor, dead. I was 604,800 seconds old. 10,080 minutes, 168 hours.

The papers reported the next day that Steven Johnson, age 23, had died of a heart attack during a robbery. In the process of the robbery Monica, 18, and Chris, 19, Norton had been shot and killed. They left behind a little baby girl who would be staying at the hospital until further notice.

I have only asked Mauk once why he was following my family that day. I have only asked once why he saved my life. Once, when I was five. I asked why he would want to save a human without numbers or a name. A human that he would not be able to kill later to increase his life span.

He only gave me one answer.

"I was bored."


	2. Discovery

_**A human who dies within 6 hours of birth and is then brought back to life shall have no numbers.**_

**Chapter 2: Discovery**

I was 1,227,600 seconds old when I was brought to an orphanage. 20,460 minutes, 341 hours. I would stay there until I turned 18. Not because the courts ordered that I wasn't to be sent to a foster home or adopted, but because every time a family would try to adopt me a strange shroud would seem to engulf them. They would then move onto a child who didn't seem to give off a feeling of impending doom. Those were only the families who choose not to try. The ones who did bring me into their lives found family and friends dying.

The ones who ran the orphanage learned quickly that I shouldn't be adopted.

I was 129,254,400 seconds old when I was found to be mildly autistic. 2,154,240 minutes, 35,940 hours, 1,469 days, 213.12 weeks, 4.09 years. I can communicate and get along with others excellently but I prefer to be by myself. I just have extreme urges to keep track of how long I have been alive.

This urge started before I could remember, but I believe it has something to do with Mauk. He was with me all 24 hours each day from the moment the robber had been killed. He says it was because I was the owner of his death note. I disagree with this argument because I never even saw his death note until I was ten.

Yet from a young age I would keep track of how long I had been alive. I became excellent at arithmetic. This also led to an increase in understand language because when I ran into a word or symbol that I did not know I would look it up. This would then lead me to looking up words that explained what I hadn't understood in the first place. I always continued doing this until I understood every word used in a description.

The orphanage just believed this was a symptom of my autism, but in fact Mauk encouraged me to do it. When I used to tell them that Mauk told me to do it they just believed that I had made up an imaginary friend to push blame onto like many other children. They said I would grow out of it, but I never did. I guess the fact that my invisible friend was actually real might have had something to do with that.

So they continued to believe my thirst for knowledge was a symptom of my autism while Mauk continued to encourage me to learn. He helped me learn things that were light-years away from what a child should learn. I never realized this until I started high school though. In fact I only found out because when I entered through the doors my freshman year I found that I already knew most of the material. This led to me testing out of most of my classes and generally only taking artistic and foreign language classes. However, that is a story for another day.

These are all pointless facts in the big picture though, for the real story begins when I was ten.

It was my birthday when Mauk gave it to me. A plain black Notebook with two words on the front; Death Note. He said this notebook had belonged to me since I was little and that I was finally old enough to take responsibility for it. He said that with this notebook I could kill anyone I wanted as long as I knew their name and face. That there are other notebooks like the one he was giving me in existence but they could not harm me. That I was immune to their power.

He told me that many of the tales he had weaved into stories had actually happened. That humans such as Adolph Hitler had gotten a hold of death notes and gone crazy with power. That he had used this object to keep me from being adopted.

I then proceeded to look him in the eye and tell him to hold onto the Death Note a little longer.

On my eleventh birthday Mauk asked me if I would like to make a trade.

He asked if I would like to be able to see the numbers above people's heads and if I would like to understand them. That if I wanted to I could trade half of my lifespan for that ability. I told him that I would never trade any second of my life for anything. He shrugged and snapped his fingers.

From that day forth I could see the numbers of humans. I asked him why he gave me the ability when I said I would never trade any of my lifespan for it. He replied that it was a birthday gift. That it would increase how much I amused him. I disliked this answer, but didn't push it.

My twelfth birthday brought the greatest gift I had ever received from Mauk.

It was small, white, and seemingly insignificant. It would mean nothing to someone who didn't already know what it was capable of. To others it would seem like a school or art supply, but to me it was a way to save lives.

It was an eraser.

An eraser that, according to Mauk, could bring back those who had been killed by a death note or stop a death from happening. When he gave me it he told me there was a rule that came along with the eraser. That if a name was written and erased four times a death note could not kill that person. But by writing the name in the death note in the first place you can neither go to heaven or hell.

My sixteenth birthday didn't bring me any gifts from Mauk. Instead it brought forth a question from my mouth.

I turned towards Mauk.

"Can I erase what others have written in death notes and still go to heaven or hell?" I asked. His answer?

"Yes."


	3. Live Broadcast from Kanto

_**Humans can receive Shinigami Eyes by either trading half their life force to the Shinigami or as a gift**_

**Chapter 3: Live Broadcast In Kanto**

I was 18 when I graduated from high school. I was glade because I was not well liked in that school, but what can you expect when you graduate with more honors than anyone from that school ever has? Being smart didn't help me through high school, so I tried athletics and art too.

I ended up being the captain of the swim team and the stage manager of most of the plays. I was horrible at painting, drawing, and pottery. Yet I did fairly well with jewelry and computer graphics. I was excellent at photography and even one a gold key for a shot I snapped of one of the other children at the orphanage flipping off a swing. This was a total accident because at the time I was trying to take a picture of Mauk, only to find out later that he wouldn't show up on film. That is unimportant though.

I tried clubs too, but no one seemed to want to join a martial arts club or the chess club once I became a member. On the other hand, membership of the anime club went up by 2 dozen members. This, I think, only happened because the club became more active under my leadership and we actual were able to go to a few conventions. Something the club had never been able to do before.

So I tried music only to find out that I was absolutely horrid at playing instruments and my singing voice was not meant for a choir, maybe a screamo band or an alternative band, but not a choir. The only instrument I was marginally good with was a guitar, and I could only do basic cords with that. By basic cords I mean 3 which is enough to get through a beginners book made for 10 year old, or to play on a street corner for change.

So I was hated throughout high school. For being intelligent enough to make it to the honor societies of languages I took. For being on a varsity team, that although the students loved that we made it to state every year they seemed to hate it that I was the one who lead it to victory one year. For being involved enough in theatre to get my name on the school's thespian roster. For being intelligent enough to get in to Todai.

Todai had been goal since middle school. If I could get into Todai with the education I was receiving at a United States public school, I could do anything. Todai would appreciate my intelligence; they would appreciate my love for languages unlike the teachers at my high school. They would get bragging rights to another 'perfect student' while I would get my chance at freedom.

I would be able to explore Tokyo at my leisure and not have to worry about rent. Applying to plenty of scholarships does help when one doesn't have parents. I would arrive in Japan around a month before University started, which would give me time to learn the city and find a part time job. At that time a voice came on through the speakers.

"Flight 213 to Tokyo, Japan is now boarding rows 50 through 35." stated a pleasant female voice. At that point I stood up from my seat and headed through the terminal to board my plane. I showed my boarding pass to an attendant and moved onto the plane.

It was large and spacious as you first stepped into it but as I headed farther and farther back towards my seat the aisle became smaller. The seats became shorter and narrower and the leg room all but disappeared. Yet I continued to fight my way to the very back of the plane to take my seat by the aisle of the last room, glad that I would be able to stretch my legs out into the aisle. Mauk simply chuckled at my predicament as I shoved past a particularly large man who fit every American stereotype. Finally I reached my seat. I opened the compartment overhead and stored my carry on and my backpack before I took my seat.

There was a TV built into the back of the seat in front of me, along with a remote attached to the seat and a pair of head phones. The plane had yet to take off so instead of in-flight movies and radio the TV's had different channels available from both Japan and the United States. I decided to watch a Japanese news station from the Kanto region. I figured that I should probably know a little about current events and now was as good of time as any to learn them. Even though I should have done this quite a while ago, then again I didn't watch much news in the U.S. either.

"Put your head phones on and listen to what is happening." Mauk told me. So I grabbed the headphones and listened.

"We interrupt your programming to bring you an important message from the ICPO. This is being broadcast all over the world. Japanese voiceover is provided by translator Yoshio Anderson." Stated the announcer on the TV. The man on TV had a plate in front of him that said Lind L. Taylor. I looked over his head and saw that it was truly his name. Taylor then began to speak.

"My name is Lind L. Taylor. Widely know as 'L'" He said with a straight face. He continued to speak. "To the perpetrator of these serial murders: you have committed the most abominable act in history. I will personally catch the one behind it." I was shocked. I hadn't even known that there had been a serial murderer at large. Mauk tapped me on the shoulder and I began to listen again, mad that I had missed some of what he was saying.

"…'Kira' at any cost. Kira, I think I have a pretty good idea of what you're trying to do and why you're doing it. But what you are doing is evil!" Lind L. Taylor shouted. I was absorbed in what he was saying before I noticed something. The numbers above his head, which had once said he had 4,860 seconds left to live had just jumped down to 45 seconds. My mouth dropped open a little.

"Mauk what just happened?" I asked him in a murmur. He gave a smile and annunciated slowly and clearly.

"Another human has a death note." He stated. Lind L Taylor began to speak and I looked back at the TV with horrified fascination.

"Police all over have already begun to investigate." He paused for effect, but I couldn't pay attention to what he was trying to say anymore. All I could do was watch as the numbers counted down above his head. 10…9…8… A man was going to die. 7…6…5…4… I couldn't do anything about it. Mauk had still had the death note and it couldn't just appear out of nowhere. 3...2...1...0. His numbers reached zero and Lind L. Taylor grabbed for his heart. He struggled and then he dropped down on the table.

"Oh my god. He was just killed on TV!" I whispered horrified, Mauk just laughed. Men came on screen and took Taylor's body out of view of the camera. Then another voice started to speak.

"Unbelievable. I did this on the off-chance that you would kill 'me.' So, Kira you can kill people without even being nearby. So it's true after all. I f I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it, but this was the only way you could have killed them, wasn't it?" The voice said. I leaned forward in my chair until my face was almost pressed to the small television screen.

"Kira, listen to me. The person you killed was actually a prisoner sentenced to be executed at this time today, not me. He was a criminal imprisoned without any media attention, so naturally even you didn't know he existed. But I, L, am real!" L said in his computerized voice. Then he started to yell.

"So why don't you kill me! Come on! Do it! Come on! Kill me! What's wrong? Can't do it?" L paused for a second before speaking again.

"Seems like you can't kill me after all. So there are people you can't kill. Thanks for the hint. Let me tell you something in return, I said that this was a worldwide live broadcast, but it's really only being showed in the Kanto region of Japan. I was planning on doing this at other prefecture, but now that's unnecessary. I know now that you're in the Kanto area." L stopped for a moment. Not a moment too soon because the passenger that was trying to get in there seat next to me was becoming impatient. I quickly stood and shoved them into their seat before turning my attention back to the screen.

"The police might have missed this, but I know your first victim was a murderer in Shinjuku. Compared to all the other criminals who died of similar causes, this guy seems insignificant and only the Japanese media reported this incident. That was the only clue I needed. To know you're in Japan, Kira! And that man was just a test for your killings!" Mauk started the giggle hysterically. He was so loud I thought that the passengers sitting around me would hear him. I tried to tune him out as I listened to L.

"I got lucky casting my net out in the most populated area of Japan. I really didn't expect my plan to go so well. Kira, it's not far from the day you die. Kira, I'm extremely interested in your killing method. I'll figure it out when I catch you!" He yelled. "Kira, I will hunt you down and destroy you! I am Justice!" L shouted. "See you, Kira." L said and his broadcast ended. I couldn't help but stare at the TV as the regular news show started again. Mauk stopped giggling long enough to ask me a question.

"You sure will have an interesting time in Japan with this 'Kira' and 'L' running about. What are going to do now that you know another death note is out on earth?" I turned and whispered under my breath so that only Mauk could hear.

"I'm going to find it and take it. No human should have the power to kill someone. No one should be able to plan someone's death like that." Mauk started laughing again.

"But they should have the power to stop it?"

* * *

Author's note: If any of my readers can draw I would love to see what you imagine Mauk and the main character just based on their names and what you know about them. There have been no physical features mentioned yet and there will not be for a while, but I would love to see what you come up with. I might even use it for how these characters will look.


	4. Flight 213

_**When A time of death is written in a deathnote it is according to the timezone the deathnote is in.**_

**Ch.4 Flight 213**

The flight was long and I was not able to sleep. My thoughts had kept racing with what little details I knew. Another deathnote was on earth and it was located somewhere in Japan in the Kanto region… The owner was using it to kill criminals… The owner had killed enough people and caused enough problems for the world's greatest detective, the world's last resort, to get involved…

It was times like this that I wished that I watched the news. If I actually watched the news I would have noticed the criminals dying. I would have known about Kira. I would have noticed that the criminals were dying of heart attacks. If I had watched this information wouldn't have blind-sided me like a semi. I would have realized that there was a deathnote. I would have been able to start searching for it earlier…

"You're overthinking something" Mauk said right into my ear. I jumped in my seat and Mauk chuckled. I shot a glare his way only to have another passenger mutter about teenagers not respecting anyone. I turned my eyes to the ground and my hair blocked the view of Mauk and the other passengers. 23,340 seconds since the plane left the airport. 389 minutes, 6.48 hours. At least five hours to go before we touched down, minimum.

"I'm not overthinking anything." I whispered. "I'm only thinking that if I had watched the news I would have known that there was another deathnote. I would have known and left sooner for Japan so that I could stop it!" My eyes flashed with anger at myself.

"Knowing about it earlier would have accomplished nothing." Mauk stated. I fought the urge to try to get in a punch. The only thing stopping me is knowing that I would look crazy.

"It would have giving me more time! I could already be there searching for the deathnote! I" Mauk cut me off with a loud laugh.

"If you had known about it earlier you still wouldn't have known where to look for it. Everyone just found out now that Kira is somewhere in Japan. You would have just tortured yourself looking for information." Mauk said this while turning upside down while waving a hand in front of a passengers face. The other hand was one inch from poking a woman in the breast in order to get the man sitting beside her in trouble. I fought the urge to laugh as I lifted my head to deny what Mauk had said but stopped after opening my mouth half way.

What Mauk had said was true. Even if I had known about another deathnotes existence in the world I wouldn't have known where to start. I would have tortured myself looking for information that I wouldn't have found. I might have even dropped out of Todai before I had even started in order to give myself more time to look for information on Kira. Information that I would not have found if it took the worlds greatest detective to narrow it down to a region in a country that had millions of people. 1/3 of Japans population. I closed mouth and sighed.

"You're right Mauk," I said underneight my breath. Mauk laughed and my eye twitched. "I would have tormented myself looking for information. I wouldn't have been able to find anything and might have stopped my schooling in order to search for information on the notebook and its owner. You were right." Mauk kept cackling at my admission and I started to sulk.

"I am right." Mauk gloated. I sunk into my seat only to have my knees hit the seat in front of me. I cursed and Mauk just floated there laughing and finally poked the woman's breast. She turned and slapped the man next. Mauk floated back towards me.

"I am right. You would have tortured yourself but that would have been then. Now you know where the notebook is and are lucky enough to already be on a flight to that destination!" This made me perk up a bit. "It's like you were destined…hurk hurk… to find another deathnote owner." I scowled.

"I don't believe in destiny." I murmured. Mauk just laughed.

"Says the girl who can see when someone's going to die." Mauk barked out.

"That's not destiny, that's fate." I stated.

" Destiny, fate same thing" Mauk said. I scowled again and turned to lay on my side and face the other direction, no longer wanting to continue the conversation. Mauk chuckled at my behavior and my scowl deepened.

"You can't ignore me" Mauk crowed. "You have nothing to distract yourself with. No video games, no computer and you already finished the book you brought. We both know that you can't sleep while moving and that's ignoring that that chair you're in must have been designed by a sadist. The only thing you have left to do is to talk to me." As Mauk said this I started to smile and turned to face the seat in front of me. My hands twitched towards my set of head phones.

"That's where you're wrong Mauk." I whispered. "I still have this crappy little tv in front of me" I put the headphones on and grabbed the remote. I pushed the power button only to grown and slide in my seat. Across the screen was a phrase that shot down all hope of ignoring Mauk for the rest of the trip. '_Do to technical difficulties all in flight shows have been canceled_.' I groaned.

"Guess that idea's out" Mauk said with a smirk. I reached out and shoved my arm through a leg while making it look like a yawn. Mauk just kept smirking and I turned back onto my side.

Just a little over 6 hours until we're there. 360 minutes, 21,600 seconds…21,595 seconds… 21,590 seconds…

"Just 21,580 seconds"

* * *

AN:Well it certainly has been awhile since my last update hasn't it? I've been meaning to put another chapter up for a long time but college and writers block put a stop to it. However, summer break has started and I refuse to be lazy with this anymore!

Hope you enjoy the chapter even if you didn't enjoy the fact that she is still on the plane after a year and some months from the last chapter.


End file.
